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Entrance to the Historic Car and Carriage Caravan Museum. For the number of artifacts on display, especially big ones like cars, the size of the building is not adequate anymore. To enter the museum, you simply deposit your ticket used for the cavern into kind of a deposit box.

The ambient of the museum is very pleasant and cozy. It is full of unusual in our everyday life stuff like in a magic shoppe. You are greeted by a blacksmith standing next to his faked forge evidently symbolizing the fact that early days of the automotive industry did not require any precision and elaborate fabrication.

1727-29 Berlin Coupe De Gala. This is a beautiful example of a luxury carriage manufactured in France in early 18th century. According to explanation provided, it was built for the Royal House of Portugal under the supervision of King Joao V for the exchange of Princesses ceremony in 1729

1810 Virginia Freight Waggon. This waggon was made in Newton (Stephens City), Virginia and was widely used as a means of freighting in the U.S. in early 19th century. Before canals and railroads replaced waggons, the latter contributed greatly to the growing prosperity of the new nation.

1840 Conestoga Road Waggon. This waggon was named after the town of Conestoga, in Pennsylvania and was pulled by six horses. The team usually walked and was controlled by a single rein (jerk-line). The size of wheels could vary depending on particular roads where streams and boulders were the main obstacles to overcome.

1840-50 Road Coach - the "bus" of the period made in London, England by Holland & Holland. Surprisingly, despite its seemingly small size, it could transport up to 20 people with luggage. It was usually pulled by four horses.

1860 Panel Boot Victoria was made by John Kingbury in Albany, New York. It was widely used in America (representing elegant luxury of plantation life) and all over the world. The "mud guards" of this carriage were predecessors of automobile fenders later on.

1869 Dexter Velocipede. This bicycle was made in Poughkeepsie, NY by William van Anden. It was the first free wheeling drive bicycle, the precursor of the coaster hub with a rachet.

1880 Sleigh was made for seven passengers which was unusual for that time. Mostly three or four passengers sleighs were in use in the world. In spite of its size the sleigh is elegant and seems to be light. It has collapsing canopy and guard rails preventing upset of the sleigh.

1880 Columbia High Wheel Bicycle - very popular in 1880s in urban areas. The front wheel was about five feet while the rear one only about one foot high. It was actually the first machine to be called a bicycle. Another name for it was Penny-farthing referring to British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other so that the side view resembles a penny leading a farthing.

1882 Benz "Vis-a-Vis" This five horse power, one cylinder, water-cooled, gasoline engine car was made by Karl Benz in Mannheim, Germany and was one of the first cars produced for sale. Being a predecessor of today Mercedes Benz, this car represents the oldest automobile on display in the US.

1896 Peugeot "Vis-a-Vis" Made by Peugeot in Paris, France the four horse power, 2-cylinder, water-cooled vehicle could make 20 miles per hour on the road. Face-to-face design of the car followed the tradition of horse-drawn carriages and was very fashionable at that period.

1900 Spider Surrey made in New York, NY by A.T. Demarest & Co. It had an elegant wicker body, whipcord upholstery and a large fringed umbrella. Two candle lamps were at carriage sides.

1900 Mountain Wagon Hack. It was designed to be pulled by one horse and had high wheels to meet the conditions of mountain roads. The cabin had 360-degree view glass windows to allow for beautiful views while in mountains. The hack had rear entrance.

1903 Winton Tonneau Touring was made by Winton Motor Carriage Co. in Cleveland Ohio. The owner of the company Alexander Winton made the first automobile soled in the United States in 1898.

1903 Speedwell Roadster. This car was built in Manchester, England by Speedwell Motor Car Co. With the horsepower of 6 HP and one-cylinder gasoline engine was in some respect like today's small garden tractor.

1903 Knox - Seven Passenger Touring, big and heavy car was made by Knox Automobile Co. in Springfield, Mass. It has five, plus two folding front seats to carry seven passengers.

1904 Oldsmobile Roadster ("Curved Dash") was made in Detroit, Michigan by Olds Motor Works founded by Ransom E. Olds. It was sold in 1904 for $650.00 and was the first mass-produced car in the United States. The Oldsmobile brand, after a production run of 107 years, was discontinued by General Motors in 2004.

1904 Cadillac, Model 'B', Rear Entrance Touring was made in Detroit, Michigan by Cadillac Motor Car Co. It may be quickly converted from touring to two-seat roadster. Its cost was $900.00.

1905 Riley Tri Car made in Coventry, England by Riley Cycle Co. As a three-wheeler it was certainly a testament of experimentations by the developing auto industry in search of the best car design. It was often used as a jitney vehicle and had a 6 HP, two-cylinder, water-cooled gasoline engine.

1906 -1910 section. From my perspective, this is the most fascinating section of the museum: a passage from the old era of horse driven carriages to the new age of cars where comfort, speed and power rule. In 1900s we see the first steps of this revolution: first shaky and uncertain but more and more serious with every year passed.

1906 Cadillac, Model 'M', Double Tulip Touring, made in Detroit, Michigan by Cadillac Motor Car Co., price $950.00. Prestigious, elegant and comfortable this vehicle was very popular those days.

1906 Schacht Highweel Roadster made by Schacht Motor car Co., in Cincinnati Ohio. Though the car was made in 1906 it looked like a vehicle from the previous century. But in spite of its appearance it was popular among rural drivers.

1906 Elmore Engine. One unusual thing about this engine is the fact that it has three cylinders. This engine is another testimony of a constant research and innovation by still very young auto industry. For example, this engine had a valveless two-cycle design which allowed for reducing the number of moving parts.

1907 Buick Roadster Model 'G'. 1907 Buick was made in Flint, Michigan, small, sport looking 2-cylinder car. If you not know - Buick was the parent company of General Motors.

1908 Delaunay Belleville Town Car. It was brought to the United States around 1910 by Baron von Rozenkratz. Custom-made in St.Denis (Seine) France by Delaunay Belleville the car has 6-cylinder engine and makes 20 miles per hour. For its life it travelled 300,000 miles.

1908 Baker Electric was made by Baker Motor Vehicle Co., in Cleveland, Ohio. It had 48 volt electric engine which worked very quietly and made 25 miles per hour. 1908 Baker Electric was the most popular car among women drivers.

1909 Middleby Roadster had a wooden frame and could make 50-60 miles per hour. The car was made in Reading, Pennsylvania by Middleby Automobile Co.

1907 International Autowagon Model 'B', Truck. This Autowagon was made by International Harvester Co. in Chicago Illinois. The company produced farm machinery and decided to adapt one of their horse wagons to a vehicle with an engine.

View on 1910 - 1920 section. All museum collections are located on one floor and visitors move along one S-shape passage where carriages and cars are displayed chronologically. This gives a wonderful opportunity to observe quick developments in the industry with the kaleidoscope of all types of forms, colors and designs.

1910 Buick Model 10 Town Car. This vehicle was made in Flint, Michigan by Buick Motor Co. It went to history as "Little White Buick" and helped transform Buick into a big car manufacturer.

1910 Maxwell Roadster. In 1910 The Maxwell Motor Co. made 14 horse power, 2-cylinder roadster with original cost of $825.00. The car was made in Tarrytown, New York ..

1910 Ford Model 'T' Touring. It is a beautiful black car with extensive brass details. The car was made by Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, Michigan and could make 22,5 miles per hour.

1910-20 Spring Wagon Hack. This was a typical and ordinary spring farm wagon popular in the Luray area. As you can see, fast pace of improvements in car designs did not result in disappearance of old and reliable horse driven transportation.

1911 Hupmobile Model 20 Roadster. This beautiful white sport car with many brass details and elaborate seats was a very popular and desirable vehicle. Its price was $750.00 and it sold very well. (Made by Hupp Motor Car Co., in Detroit, Michigan.)

1912 Hudson Model 33 Touring was produced in Detroit Michigan by Hudson Motor Car Co. This car had right-hand drive not unusual (actually, very popular) in early car design. My explanation for this is that the drivers' convenience at the beginning was more important consideration than the safety in driving cars.

1912 Metz Model 22 Roadster was deferent in its driving system than other cars of that time. It was made in Waltham, Massachusetts by The Metz Company. Charles Metz being an inventor tried to promote his new driving system which had one flaw - there were no available parts on the market.

1912 Ford Model 'T' (C-Cab) Truck built in Detroit, Michigan by Ford Motor Company. It had a four-cylinder, water-cooled gasoline engine capable of delivering 20 HP at 2000 rpm.

1913 Stanley Steamer Model 70 Touring had a steam engine.The price for this model was $1,300.00 in 1913. It was produced in Newton, Massachussets by Stanley Motor Carriage Company. The car had aluminum body on a wooden frame. The steam engine had horsepower of 10 HP.

1914 Locomobile, Model 48 - Gentleman's Speedster. This car was built in Bridgeport, Connecticut by the Locomobile Company of America known for some of the finest luxury automobiles. It was very expensive at the time ($5,100) had a very powerful for 1914 engine (6-cylinder, 48HP, 70 mph) and was considered the American "Rolls-Royce."

1914 Ruttenburg Engine. According to museum information this engine was built in Richmond, Indiana and had horsepower of 29.7 HP. It's a big and heavy engine - all I can say, since I could not find any additional data on this piece of machinery.

1914 King Engine - this is a well known engine built by King Motor Car Company (founded in 1911 by Charles Bradley King). It is one of the first V-8 engines (released 3 months after Cadillac ). This particular one was capable of delivering 60 HP. Charles King died in 1957 at the age of 88 leaving some 70 patents 40 of them in the automotive category.

1914 Westcott - Seven Passenger Touring built in Richmond, Indiana by Westcott Motor Company founded by Burton J. Westcott. The Westcott was advertised as "The Car with the Longer Life." Indeed, according to the museum information, the car displayed was found in an unusually good conditions. Its engine "has not been touched" and "it will cross any mountain in the area in high gear without a whimper."

1914 Ford Model 'T' Milk Wagon made by Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan had gas lamps. In 1915 Ford stopped producing cars with gas lamps. This 1914 Milk Wagon was the last of the kind.

1915 Chevrolet '490' Touring was made by Chevrolet Motor Car Company in Flint, Michigan with the cost of $490.00 plus $60.00 for electric lights. With this vehicle Chevrolet started a new era of producing cars for average Americans.

1915 Dodge Model 30 Roadster with all steel body and unusual body lines was popular among doctors. It was made by Dodge Brothers in Detroit, Michigan with a price tag of $785 dollars.

1922 Willys Knight Model 20 Country Club Touring, a progenitor of famous jeep was produced by The Willy-Overland Company in Toledo, Ohio.

1922 Willys Knight Model 20 Country Club Touring - the detail of leather upholstery

1924 Franklin Model 10-C Touring built in Syracuse, NY by H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company known for producing direct air-cooled cars from 1902 to 1934. The Company was run, during its first thirty-two years by Herbert H. Franklin and John Wilkinson, the engineer who built the first Franklin Car. The model on display has six-cylinder, 25 HP air-cooled gasoline engine and had the price of $2,350.

1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost - Pall Mall Touring belonged to one of the most popular Hollywood actresses of the 1920s, and the richest woman of the movie industry at the time, Pola Negri. The car was made by Rolls-Royce of America, Inc. in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1925 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Town Car was a personal car of a silent film star Rudolph Valentino, made by Rolls-Royce of America, Inc. in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1925 Graham Brothers - Police "Paddy" Wagon. The Graham brothers, Joseph, Robert, and Ray, began building trucks immediately after World War I, teaming up with Dodge Brothers in 1921 after the deaths of John and Horace Dodge in 1920. The Graham truck became the Dodge truck.

Late 1920s section of the museum. That's where the museum gets less interesting. The variety of cars in 1920s and later became so vast that to make a representative collection of related cars the in limited museum space is simply impossible. Still, what's on is display is very interesting.

1927 Mercedes Benz Model S Touring. Heavy and powerful, with exquisite body lines and sofisticated details this car attracts attention from the first glance. It was made in Stuttgart, Germany by Daimler-Benz.

1927 Mercedes Benz Model S Touring - engine close-up (220HP 110 MPH 6-cylinder super-charged)

1927 Bugatti Model 40 Roadster was made by Ettore Bugatty an Italian genius who founded a company in Molsheim, France in 1909. During the years his company became famous for producing high-end sport cars.

1928 Packard Phaeton Touring. Packard was an American luxury automobile brand built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899 and the last in 1958.

1928 Packard Phaeton Touring - Hood Ornament. It is sitting on 8-cylinder 120 HP water-cooled gasoline engine - not bad for a car built in 1928. The price of the car was $4,040.

1929 Ford Model 'A' Roadster. Model 'A' was introduce to the public in December 1929 at the price of $550. Bumpers were an option at $15. The car was powered by 40 HP 4-cylinder water-cooled engine with max. speed of 65 mph. Standard equipment included all wheel mechanical breaks, speedometer, hydraulic shock absorbers, starter, wipers, dash lights, mirror, gas gauge and tools.

1930s section of the museum. This is the last section of the museum represented by several cars built in late 1930s and 1940s. A bit disappointing that the museum has not find any opportunity to add more cars of the period reflecting an important epoch of American auto industry finished with Great Depression.

1930 Cord L-29 Phaeton. E.L. Cord a successful salesman at the John Quinlan, Moon car dealership in Chicago was offered a position of the president of the Auburn Company to make it profitable again. The new new Cord and the 1929 Duesenberg, were introduced under Cord's leadership. An interesting feature if this outstanding car is a front-wheel drive. The original cost of the car was $2,595.

1931 Morgan Super Sports (three weeler). This half-car, half-motorcycle machine was very fast. In 1930, a similar Morgan Super Sports set a record speed of more than 115 mph, an astonishing achievement for the time. Regular 1930 Morgan Sport was powered by 15 HP, 2-cylinder water-cooled engine and could carry one passenger.

1931 Morgan Super Sports, front close-up. One of the most interesting features of Morgan Super Sports was the placement of the engine in front of the radiator. The space under the "hood" was used as a room for passenger legs.

1931 Ford Model 'A' Sports Coupe. The Model 'A' was a drastic departure from the simplistic Model 'T'. The engine for the new car was nearly twice as powerful as the 'T'. The car had four wheel mechanical brakes instead of two, and shock absorbers replaced springs. The new car had over 6800 parts vs. less than 5000 in 'T'. Despite the great depression, 4.5 million cars were sold between 1927-1931, with Ford outselling Chevrolet two-to-one in 1930.

1931 Pierce Arrow Model 42 Touring Car. This beautiful heavy car is one of the last of a long line of the finest products of the American automotive industry. For 38 years, from 1901 to 1938, the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company in Buffalo, NY, produced some of the finest automobiles ever made. The car on display had original price of $3,550 and was powered by 8-cylinder, 124 HP water-cooled gasoline engine.

1931 Hispano-Suiza - made for 1935 Paris Auto Show. This car based on Hispano-Suiza H6 design was an epitome of ultra-luxurious cars. It was driven by a 6-cylinder 132 HP engine with max. speed of 120 mph. The accent trip line is 24K gold plate and external appointments are made of silver. Now forgotten, the Hispano-Suiza automotive company (in Bois-Colombes, France) had even greater reputation than Rolls-Royce in England.

1932 Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake 20/25. Shooting-brake is a 2-door hatchback with a squared-off rear. The term originated with custom built 2-door luxury estate cars altered for use by hunters and other sportsmen requiring easy access to larger storage areas . The coach-work for this car was made to order by Crosbie and Dunn, Ltd.

1941 Lincoln Zephyr. Introduced in1935, the Lincoln-Zephyr was extremely modern with a low raked windscreen, integrated fenders, and aerodynamic design. It featured a 4.4 liter V12, and was very successful becoming more a brand name, rather than just a model. The exemplar on display was built for Edsel Ford.

ECO Tireflator. The Tireflator pumps a burst of air into the hose and then takes pressure measurement. It continued this cycle until the tire is inflated. High pressure allows for a very quick air delivery to the tire while achieving great accuracy with frequent measurements. These units are/were the Cadillac of tire inflators.

1926 Nash Engine. Nash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 (founded by former General Motors president Charles W. Nash) to 1938. The engine on display is a 6-cylinder, 96 HP gasoline engine with an overhead valve design with removable valve cover and head.

1923 Stutz Engine. The Stutz Motor Company was a producer of luxury cars. Founded as the Ideal Motor Car Company in Indianapolis , Indiana in 1911 and soon renamed as Stutz Motor Co. it began manufacturing high-performance roadsters like the famous Stutz Bearcat. The latter featured a 4-cylinder T-head engine with four valves per cylinder, one of the earliest multi-valve engines.

1910-12 Primus to warm engines. This rather exotic by today's standards device was used to warm the engine and oil after frosty nights by placing it under engine crankcase.

1910-20 Shaler Vulcanizer. This typical vulcanizer of the period u8sed gasoline as fuel to make steam which in turn heated the vulcanizing surfaces to the proper temperature. The gasoline was fed to the burner by gravity from the small tank on top.

A collection of Virginia license plates. In addition to cars and engines, the museum has a large number of interesting artifacts related to the history of making and using cars.

Historic Car and Carriage Caravan Museum gift shop.